


Youtiao And Then Some

by canterofmysinnings



Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [20]
Category: Take That (Band)
Genre: Aesthetic/Romantic attraction, Amsterdam, Bilingual Jason, Chinese Astrology, Chinese Restaurant, Clothes Shopping, Early noughties, First Kiss, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Autism Spectrum (R), Love Confession, M/M, Romantic Tension, Sensory overload/meltdown (R), Teasing, Tourism, Traditional cuisine, slight angst with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canterofmysinnings/pseuds/canterofmysinnings
Summary: Robbie, Gary, Jason, Mark and Howard are on a holiday abroad. They go out all five to have some fun and shop new clothes. After shopping, they go to a Chinese restaurant together. But Robbie doesn't feel so good... Why? And can Gary manage to help him?
Relationships: Gary Barlow/Robbie Williams, Howard Donald/Jason Orange
Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926196
Kudos: 7





	Youtiao And Then Some

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 20 of my Transfer from Wattpad series, as well as my year-long Barlliams Songfic challenge.  
> Originally published at: 14/07/2018  
> Originally inspired by the song: Heaven from Here
> 
> Important culture-related sensitivity note: This fanfiction includes Chinese dishes (which I've researched) and Chinese phonetic language, which unfortunately was not researched as throughout at the time of writing. In fact, it was automatically translated. Therefore, if a native speaker or a fluent speaker reads this story, they will find that the grammar/fluency/language-related things don't really make sense. I recognise that this might be offensive to some Chinese native speakers, and I'd just like to say that I'm sorry if this offends anyone. If you're a native or fluent Take That fan, feel free to drop me a comment below (provided that you have an account) and we can try to work towards greater lingual accuracy together.

**July 2002**

After a long flight, the five boys finally arrived to a destination they had been wanting to go to a long time, the bubbly Amsterdam.  
They now sat at their hotel and planned their next move. The room was white and gold themed, and they were all very satisfied with the quality of the hotel.  
"Okay, we're here. What to do next?" Gary said, assuming his usual leadership role.  
"I suggest we go clothes shopping." Mark suggested. "I need a new hat."  
"Come on guys, we need some proper food to eat when we're not going out." Howard being Howard, of course he suggested getting food.  
Jason shrugged. "I don't know, I'd rather stay at home."  
"I want to party all night!" Robbie cheered, which made Gary chuckle. After all this time, the distinct personalities in the band still were obvious.  
Gary couldn't help but to reflect on how the general public might see them. The odd five.  
He carefully weighed all the options, before he made a decision. "Okay guys. So, how about we go out to shop a bit? Then someone can go back to here with Jay in a couple of hours. Who wants to party tonight?"  
The guys listened attentively as Gary suggested a plan, as they knew Gary always tried to make up a solution to please everyone as well as possible.

"That's good!" Jason approved Gary's proposal, which made Gary exhale deeply with relief. Jason was the introspective in the band, and his sensitive nature resulted in him needing more time to recharge alone or with few people around. Even so, he contributed a lot to the band, offering an impeccable quality control to everything they did in the band, be it lyrics or music videos.  
"I like that idea." Mark agreed, and the men started to shuffle around for their things as they were ready to go out in town.   
"Who keeps the keys?" Robbie asked, to Gary's surprise. Robbie wasn't known to be the most organised in the band.   
"Certainly not you!" Gary teased Robbie, as he collected the hotel keys to be stored safely into his purse.

**In a clothes store**

All five band members looked excitedly around as they entered a clothes store. Gary noted that Mark, especially, looked like he had found Heaven.   
In no time at all, he found himself in the hats section with Howard and a more reluctant Jay.   
Robbie and Gary found themselves in the entrance of the shop still, looking around quietly.   
"Do you like this one, or this one more?" Mark gushed to Howard. Jason was looking at some shoes, seemingly unreachable.   
"I reckon you will want to go classic black or grey, Mark."   
Gary shifted his attention to Robbie. "Are you planning on getting something?" He asked, somewhat absently as his brain adjusted to the new sensory inputs. The new smells and sights, as well as the feeling of a new place.   
"I don't know yet, maybe if I find something nice." Robbie grinned.   
"Shall we go upstairs?" Gary suggested.   
"Yes, let's go."

**Upstairs, in a section with shirts and jackets**

"Wow. This is impressive." Gary said under his breath. There really were a lot of options, almost too many to choose.   
Robbie walked a bit from Gary.   
"I think I need some new shirts." Robbie talked part to himself, part to Gary.   
"Do you need any help with that?"  
Robbie turned his body back towards Gary, standing a bit away from him.   
"No, thank you. I think I know exactly what I'm going for."

Robbie walked around a bit, picking different things.  
At last, he called out to Gary. Gary had found a chair by the changing rooms. He found that watching Robbie pick his clothes was therapeutic, almost to the point of him falling asleep for a while.  
"Gaz..." Robbie said softly. Gary instantly looked up. "Yeah?"  
"What do you think of this one?" Robbie asked, holding a sleeveless, black tee in front of him.  
Gary had a look at the shirt, and lifted his eyebrows. His mouth gaped slightly open, but soon Gary smiled a cheeky smile at his mate. "Really? That was the best thing you could find? A flaming Mötley Crüe tee?"  
Robbie blushed. "Stop nagging me, Barlow." He lowered the shirt down in defeat.  
"Hey, I didn't say it was bad!" Gary exclamed. "I think you need to style it properly, though... What about this...?"  
With purposefully over dramatic movements, he removed a flowered skirt from the place to his left.  
Robbie blushed even more. "No way I'm wearing that!" He stammered, clutching the hangers he had already collected.  
"I'm gonna try on my clothes whatever you like it or not! In fact, I might buy the band tee just to bother you!" Robbie smirked.  
"Very well!" Gary bantered. "Then you owe me a drink later."  
"Deal." Robbie agreed.  
He walked into the changing room with confidently swinging hips.  
After closing the cover curtain, he peeped outside again with an embarrassed expression. "Uh... Barlow?"  
"Huh?" Gary answered. "What's wrong?"  
"There is nothing to place my hangers on in here... So will you...?"  
Gary nodded. "I'll keep them, as you try them on."  
Robbie placed the hangers next to Gary and picked up one of the longer shirts. It was a dark purple one that looked pretty professional.  
"I like that one." Gary complimented.  
Robbie said nothing, but glanced at Gary as he walked into the changing room.  
A while after, he returned outside, now wearing the purple shirt.  
"So, how is it?"

Gary let his eyes explore Robbie's look. Although he tried to contain himself and not appear creepy, it was tough not to like Robbie's look. And from what Gary could tell, Robbie enjoyed Gary's attention.

Oh wow. What a prodigious sight.

It was indeed a tight shirt, which made Robbie's torso features stand out. The material which it was made from appeared silky smooth, with not a single crinkle in the wrong place. The purple shirt made Robbie's skin appear in a darker shade than usual, and to Gary it seemed like it brought out Robbie's best features. It even perfectly complemented Robbie's neck, which Gary actually hadn't noticed this way before... The longer Gary looked, the more he was spiralling into a void where only Robbie existed. On and on like an infinity machine, he wasn't even able to divert his eyes...

Gary felt a brush of heat as a hand touched him. He fell out of his petrifaction as Robbie gently poked his shoulder.  
"Gaz... Gaz? Are you okay?" A set of chartreuse green eyes greeted him, and it was now Gary's turn to blush heavily.  
"Sorry. All I can say is that I love this on you. Not sure about the Mötley one. But if you want it, buy it." Gary smiled at Robbie. Most of all, he wanted to get out of here and get a bite to eat.  
The two guys walked downstairs and Robbie paid, talking broken German.  
Mark was showing off his new hat, as all the boys reunited again outside the shop.  
"Who's hungry?" Gary asked, after he had asked if everyone still felt good or if they should go home.  
"We're all a bit hungry." Jason said. "I know a brilliant Chinese restaurant, can I show you?"  
The guys all said yes as they trusted Jason's judgement.

They walked down the wide street. Jason and Howard lead the way with Mark in the middle. Gary and Robbie walked behind Mark, as they tried to make way through the busy road. The longer they walked in the noisy environment, the more it dawned on Gary that Robbie wasn't feeling so well.  
Not wanting to startle him, Gary waited until they arrived at the restaurant to approach him.  
"That's it guys, here it is. Can you smell it? It smells so good!" Jason sighed with pleasure.  
Gary had to admit he felt a little bit uptight about eating Chinese food the first thing after the flight. But he kept it inside, deciding to go with the flow.  
Jason strolled through the restaurant as he friendly greeted every waiter he met - in Chinese. It was quite overwhelming for Gary to see Jason take the lead for him, but looking at Robbie, Gary figured that he hardly had anything to complain about.  
He turned to Robbie as the other three sat down at a table.  
"Rob, what's wrong?" Gary whispered, pulling him aside into the wine department where nobody seemed to walk in.  
"I don't know what's wrong." Robbie burst into tears. "I feel terrible, but I don't know why."  
Gary promptly embraced the taller man.  
"What about your head, do you have a headache?"  
"Yes." Robbie groaned.  
"Don't worry. We'll sort this out, okay? Please sit down, I'll go ask Jason about if we can go a quiet place." Gary sent Robbie a lingering glance as he walked back towards the other guys.  
Jason and the other people had already ordered thanks to Jason's impressive language skills. Turns out that Jason was able to say more than a few words in Chinese.  
"Jase." Gary nudged Jason.  
Jason stopped eating the meal he had ordered and put his chopsticks down.  
"Gary, _wǒ de_ _péngyǒu!_ Why don't you come eat with us?" He laughed.  
"Don't, he won't shut up about his Chinese abilities!" Howard remarked.  
Jason smiled smugly as he applied some more soya to his course.  
"Howard, you _shǎzi!_ I love you too!" Jason teased back mercilessly.  
"Jason, I need your help. Can you order a water bottle for me? Robbie seems stressed, I'm afraid he might have a stress meltdown."  
Jason's face softened as he smiled a mild smile. "Of course. Can I order you a snack, too?"  
"That would be great. Thank you." Gary agreed, humbled by Jason's newfound authority. As Jason walked to the front desk to order, Gary started to reflect in awe. He had no idea that Jason could be so assertive, especially in a foreign language.  
 _"Nǐ hǎo, wǒmen yòu jiànmiànle. Wǒ kěyǐ diǎn shuǐ ma? Jiēzhe Youtiao, qǐng."_

After the purchase was completed, Jason turned to Gary. "You'll get Youtiao in a minute. They don't take long to make."  
Gary smiled, a bit sceptical.   
"What is it, though?"  
A hot, aromatic smell spread around the room as the woman behind the counter prepared Jason's order.  
" _Youtiao_ is pieces of deep fried dough. So basically like fish and chips, without the fish."  
Gary licked his lips as the delicious smell awoke his appetite.  
"Will you come sit with us?" Jason offered.  
Robbie shook his head no. "No, sorry. As I told you, Robbie needs me. I'll wait."  
The woman reached out to Jason with a bag of the freshly made sticks.  
 _"Qǐng xiǎngyòng, Yīngjùn."_ She chirped politely.  
 _"Fēicháng gǎnxiè nǐ."_ Jason winked playfully.  
Jason handed Gary his water and the snack.  
"Take good care of Robbie, will ya? I'm worried, mate." He said, lowering his voice.  
"Trust me, there is nothing I would rather do." Gary said, and turned around to find Robbie.

**In an empty kitchen, which was found unlocked for an unknown reason:**

Gary entered the first, the best place that was unlocked and not a dead end.  
Within seconds he realised that this was his jackpot, as he found Robbie scrambling on the floor.  
Quickly, he grabbed two brooms and placed them against the door handles, so nobody could walk in on them.  
Then he rushed towards Robbie, trying to he as quiet as possible.  
He sat down next to Robbie on the floor.  
"Robbie, I'm here for you. Are you any better?"   
Robbie didn't answer, he was just lying there in the fetal position.   
"Too much. The world is too much." Robbie stammered, as he rocked back and forth.   
Gary leant closer in.   
"What exactly is bothering you, Rob? Do you like it when I whisper?" Gary softly spoke, watch progressed into a whisper to comfort Robbie.   
Gary watched Robbie's body language for am answer. Robbie's muscles relaxed a little bit, which Gary read as a good sign.   
"Do you like it when it's dark, under this counter? Was it too bright before?" Gary whispered into Robbie's ear.   
And slowly, Robbie nodded as a yes.   
"What about sounds, was it too loud for you out there?" Gary breathed.   
Robbie nodded again, and Gary noticed that Robbie's face was wet with tears.   
Gary carefully wiped some of them away, which Robbie didn't object to despite his poor condition.   
"When we put on a show, we can control the noise from people. But now, out of control noise." Robbie admitted.   
"Alright." Gary whispered. "Did the smell of the restaurant bother you? Was it too intense for you?"   
Gary waited patiently for Robbie to answer.   
Robbie shook his head. "No. That was not it."  
Robbie reached out one of his hands, which Gary took.   
"I think my senses just- it all just was too much for me. But, I'm better now thanks to you speaking softly." Robbie confessed. The shadow of a smile went over his face, getting more visible by the moment- Gary relished the feeling.   
"Are you hungry?" Gary asked Robbie, taking a chance to speak more loudly as Robbie felt better now.   
"A bit." Robbie smiled self-consciously.   
"Are you thirsty, too?" Gary caressed Robbie's hand, then let go.  
"Yeah I... Need water. Do you have any water?" Robbie burst, regaining his enthusiasm.   
"Yes, right here. I also have a snack. It's a fried something called Youtiao. I've heard from Jason that it's delicious."  
"Hmm? That's interesting..." Robbie looked into the bag with the dough sticks. "They do smell good."  
"Great, neue is your water."Gary passed Robbie the bottle after opening it.   
The two guys were just about to indulge in the goods, when Gary heard Chinese voices speaking in the distance.   
_"Jìdé zhè cì gěi jīròu zuò hǎo tiáowèi, hǎo ma?"_

Gary promptly got up. "Sorry Robbie, but we have to get out of here right now!"  
Robbie didn't ask any questions as he got, up, struggling slightly from lying down for so long.  
"On ten I remove the broom, on five we RUN!" Gary giggled, as he felt a great adrenaline rush.   
"Lord, this feels like being a spy!" Robbie cheered.

Finally, the two guys made it out in time. Standing in the same hallway as they started in, Gary was about to go back to the other guys as he felt a pair of strong, yet smooth, arms wrap around him.  
The embrace was insisting, yet Gary felt like he was free to break out of it any time. Not that he wanted to, because he didn't even have to look down to see who did it.

It was Robbie.

With relative ease, Gary turned around so that he was face to face with his new mystery lover.   
He was pleased to see a familiar face.   
"Did I ever tell you that I have a massive crush on you, Barlow?" Robbie spoke. His green eyes seemed ferociously aflame , which reminded Gary of the legendary Greek undying flame.  
Gary remembered that the legend said wherever the fire is unleashed, the fire will keep burning until the end of time.   
"I don't know. But did I?"

Gary wrapped his own hands around the life of Robbie, as they were tightly intertwined.   
"I can't stand holding back my feelings." Robbie bursted fiercely.  
Gary looked at Robbie, taking him in. The fact that Robbie was three inches taller than him had never bothered him too much - and Gary was amazed about how safe he felt in Robbie's arms.   
"Gary... I love you." Robbie sighed. "You are the most gorgeous man I have ever laid my eyes on. I want to give you my heart."   
Gary's breathing slowed down as he was able to give himself completely.   
"I love you too. If you give me your heart, I will take care of it. You are one of a kind. The only one I can fully trust."  
The pair looked at each other lovingly. A momentum was built up, and there was no way back. They figured that now was the time to share their first kiss ever.

"Do you or do I...?"  
"Don't sweat. I'll do."

*******************************************

_Metal Dog with Wood Tiger_

_Harmony incarnate. You and the Tiger just plain get along. You have common causes and common philosophies. Yet you_ _are_ _very different. The Tiger is overly optimistic, you are pessimistic. Each helps the other to understand these basic character differences._

_The Chinese call this pairing a happy alliance of muscle and heart. The Tiger has the strength to put your ideals across to the public. You keep watch and prevent the Tiger from leaping into the wrong frays. You are, simply, a great couple. Harmony reigns right from the start. And because you and the Tiger respect each other's deepest convictions, mutual admiration sticks you together like super glue._

_— GroupoVenus_


End file.
